There is an image forming apparatus in which a rolled medium formed of a rolled elongated-paper is used as a recording medium. This kind of image forming apparatus includes a rolled medium supplying apparatus from which the rolled medium is rolled out and supplied. Further, in order to improve operations including exchanging the rolled medium, a setting position, where the rolled medium is set in the rolled medium supplying apparatus, is provided in a front surface of the image forming apparatus.
Further, it is required that the image forming apparatus correspond to multistage rolls and that the height of the image forming apparatus be suppressed. Further, it is required that, in order to reduce an occurrence of slanting conveyance of the medium when conveying the medium, the conveyance route be as short as possible.
In order to meet the above requirements, a method is considered to be optimum in which the rolled medium is disposed under an image printing unit, a conveyance roller is disposed in the far side of the image forming apparatus, and a tip of the rolled medium is set in the far side of the rolled medium supplying apparatus.
However, in the image forming apparatus described above, it is difficult for an operator to set the rolled medium in the rolled medium supplying apparatus because, when the operator sets the rolled medium in the rolled medium supplying apparatus, it is necessary for the operator to insert the tip of the rolled medium into a guide, but the rolled medium itself blocks the view of the operator.
Here, another method can be considered in which, after having the rolled medium set in the rolled medium supplying apparatus, by rotating the rolled medium, the tip of the rolled medium is guided to the guide.
However, because a thick paper and a small amount of remaining rolled medium near a roll core have strong curling and the tip of the rolled medium is affected by the curling, it may become difficult to guide the tip of the rolled medium to the guide.
In order to solve the above problem, a technique is already known in which a guide capable of following an outer periphery of the rolled medium is provided, and, by having the operator rotate the rolled medium, the tip of the rolled medium is separated from the rolled medium and is guided to the conveyance roller (refer to, for example, Patent Document 1).
However, in the paper feeding apparatus according to Patent Document 1, in the case of a small amount of remaining rolled paper or a rolled paper whose end is adhered to a roll-core body, the guide, interfering or contacting the paper being conveyed, becomes a conveyance load, which may lead to a problem of low print quality.
In order to avoid the above problem, it may be considered that the guide be made as short as possible, which then leads to a problem that the visibility of the guide when setting the rolled paper in the paper feeding apparatus is degraded.